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General Research Guide: 3. Searching

Overview of research process

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    Developing a Search Strategy

    Computers don't speak English or read! We have to write the inquiry in a format that most search systems can process, so that you will find relevant information.

    Example: Your topic is how colleges are making a commitment to sustainability.

    The main keywords or search terms in your topic are colleges and commitment and sustainability.

    Most of the resources you will be searching, including the library catalog and journal article sources, will provide three or more boxes for your terms.  Type each term into a box like this:

    Note that typing the words next to each other in one box, as is done in basic web searching on Google, will not work.

     


    SHOW ME!

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